So my brother-in-law drinks moonshine ....

The latest moonshine he is drinking comes from the backyard of a friend of a friend.

Other than this he is quite a normal individual (except for the fact that he married my sister . Come to think of it, he may be insane). Since I do not want him to go blind, I would like to introduce him to Bourbon. I mentioned it to him over the weekend and he seems very receptive.

Being a Bourbon noob myself, I'm not exactly sure what to start him out on to wean him off of the 'shine. He said what he is currently drinking is about 100 proof.

Since he recently became a granddad for the first time, I was thinking of getting him some Old Grand-Dad 114. I plan on picking some up for myself this week as I have never tried it. But it comes highly recommended on here and the 114 proof should pack enough punch to keep him wanting more. If not that, I was thinking of getting him some Wild Turkey 101. It's easy to find if he wants more, about the same proof he's drinking now, inexpensive, extremely tasty, and he won't go blind drinking it.

As a backup plan I'll probably have some Gentleman Jack on hand if the higher proof Bourbon is a little much for him and he needs something smooth and simple. Regardless, he's gotta get off that moonshine, dang it, so I'm definitely going to work on him to transfer over to the good stuff.

Any thoughts on a good entry Bourbon for a lost soul drinking moonshine would be greatly appreciated.

Re: So my brother-in-law drinks moonshine ....

Your intention to introduce him to bourbon is wonderful, but the 'shine is a special thing unto itself. Distillation has its own set of worries and concerns, but done properly with knowledge and experience, it's no different than any other homemade product.

Er, what I meant to say was moonshining is illegal, and no person associated with this website condones such illicit activity.

Re: So my brother-in-law drinks moonshine ....

Originally Posted by Yeti

Your intention to introduce him to bourbon is wonderful, but the 'shine is a special thing unto itself. Distillation has its own set of worries and concerns, but done properly with knowledge and experience, it's no different than any other homemade product.

Er, what I meant to say was moonshining is illegal, and no person associated with this website condones such illicit activity.

HA! Y'know, I would not be adverse to trying some myself, as I am genuinely curious. But I do not think I will let my first experience be with a bottle made in a friend of a friend's backyard. Yeah, I'm probably missing out, but still.

I've looked into some 'legal' moonshine that I wouldn't mind giving a shot, but I am not going to go out of my way to do so at this point. Being a new whisk(e)y drinker, I've got enough homework to do without introducing a new spirit.

Re: So my brother-in-law drinks moonshine ....

Here in Appalachia we have a long history with "independent distillation". I would strongly recommend you avoid "legal" moonshines as they are basically overpriced gimmicks. There is a curiosity (and even a legitimate enjoyment) from clear whiskey off the still, but when the marketing department puts a fancy story and pretty label over it they tend to mark the price up. No reason to pay more and get less. Aging is a huge part of what makes bourbon, and all whiskey, so wonderful.

Good luck introducing your friend to the more refined whiskies in the bourbon world. OGD114 is an excellent place to start!

Re: So my brother-in-law drinks moonshine ....

Originally Posted by Yeti

Here in Appalachia we have a long history with "independent distillation". I would strongly recommend you avoid "legal" moonshines as they are basically overpriced gimmicks. There is a curiosity (and even a legitimate enjoyment) from clear whiskey off the still, but when the marketing department puts a fancy story and pretty label over it they tend to mark the price up. No reason to pay more and get less. Aging is a huge part of what makes bourbon, and all whiskey, so wonderful.

Good luck introducing your friend to the more refined whiskies in the bourbon world. OGD114 is an excellent place to start!

Thanks for the advice, and I think I will start him off with some OGD114.

I think the most scared I've ever been was when I was deer hunting deep in the mountains near the Chattahoochee National Forest in North Georgia (with that same brother in law) back in the early '80s and came across a working still. I was carrying a 30-30 and my brother in law had his trusty Remington 1100, but we never felt more exposed and under-gunned in our lives. We just very slowly backed out the way we came in and avoided that area for the rest of the season (and beyond). It was one of those moments that literally raised the hair on the back of my neck.

Of course it's possible if we would have announced ourselves and asked nice that we may have gotten some free recipe. But .... instead we really got the creeps.

Re: So my brother-in-law drinks moonshine ....

Originally Posted by squire

PD I was reared by men who knew moonshiners and my late Father said it best, "I won't drink it unless I know the man who made it".

Squirism #458.

The blindness everyone gets scared about is the result of some idiot using some kind of industrial solvent thinking that another pass through the still will remove the good alcohol from the rest of the poison. Guess what it won't work like that. A responsible shiner that only uses the same ingredients that a legal distiller would use(corn, rye, malt, sugar, molasses) should not be a problem as long as the copper was soldered with lead free solder.

I currently have two shine products on my shelf, rum made from high grade molasses and malt whiskey made from english peated malt. Other than being a little rough around the edges for being white dog products, they are quite good. A few oak chips though they start to smooth out.

Peggy: Look Al, the rubes think I'm sexy!
Al: So would I if I had whiskey for breakfast.